A national co-chair of the 2016 Trump campaign, Sam Clovis, is a member of the newly announced Farmers and Ranchers for Trump, according to the organization’s website. Clovis withdrew his nomination for USDA chief scientist on Nov. 2, 2017, after investigators said he encouraged a campaign staff worker to try to contact Russians claiming to have harmful information about Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
Clovis, a former college professor and Tea Party activist in Iowa, is one of 19 members on the farmers and ranchers panel, an adjunct of most presidential campaigns. The chairman is Charles Herbster, who chaired a 64-person Trump agricultural advisory committee in 2016. Herbster made a fortune in cattle breeding and farm equipment, according to a Politico profile at the time.
Clovis was one of three Trump campaign officials named in a 2019 letter from Senate Intelligence Committee leaders in a request for a Justice Department investigation for potentially lying to lawmakers, reported the Los Angeles Times over the weekend. “Disclosure of the letter comes as the Senate Intelligence Committee is close to releasing its final report on the panel’s own investigation into Russian election meddling.” It was not clear what action the Justice Department took, said the newspaper.
After withdrawal of his nomination for chief scientist, Clovis worked at USDA for six months as the White House senior adviser, leaving in May 2018. It was a continuation of his role from early 2017 as leader of the Trump transition team for USDA.